Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has hinted that he could copy Cristiano Ronaldo's retirement stance and play on beyond his 40th birthday. The Croatian midfielder has spent almost a decade in the Spanish capital, winning four Champions League trophies and two domestic league titles.
His biggest accomplishment of them all was beating Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the Ballon d'Or in 2018, shortly after helping his national side to the World Cup final.
There has been talk the ex-Tottenham man could quit the Bernabeu this summer when his contract expires.
Modric, 36, is not planning on calling time on his career just yet as he aims to continue playing for a number of years, just like his former team-mate Ronaldo.
"I don't know, really, I don't know until what year I'm going to be able to play," Sportening ambassador Modric said when asked if he could play into his 40s like Ronaldo.
"It can be 40, or more, or less. Let's see. I have to go little by little, enjoy what I am doing.
Luka Modric could copy Cristiano Ronaldo's retirement stance (Image: GETTY)
"I feel good physically, which is important, mentally too, I am in a very big club, the best club in the world without any doubt, and I am working to maintain this level as far as possible.
"Let's see how much it will be, but talking about years is very difficult. I'm almost 37 now and I really feel very good.
"I have worked outside Valdebebas and the club's headquarters to know how I can improve, where I can maintain the physique, which is very important in today's football and to see how much I can continue like this, but the more the better."
Modric was speaking after teaming up with Sportening and he added: "When I first heard about Sportening, it seemed obvious that something like this should exist - a social network for sports fans.
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Luka Modric has had a glittering career at Real Madrid (Image: Sportening)
"But when you look at the market, there's no such thing. Taking football on its own, there are three billion fans around the world, so the potential is enormous.
"When I saw just how passionate the Sportening team are about building something unique for fans, I immediately wanted to support them.
"I wouldn’t be where I am today without fans and their recent absence from stadiums emphasized just how important they are to the game. I now want to give something back, by helping Sportening to build the biggest and best online fan community."
Commenting on the launch, Sportening founder Ivan Klaric, said: “We're on a mission to build a social app exclusively for sports fans globally and today marks a huge step in this journey. We built Sportening to connect fans and offer them a unique, tailored social media experience, away from all the noise of the mainstream platforms. The fact that more than 250,000 people have already joined us is testament to just how much sports fans want an app like Sportening to meet like-minded people.
Luke Modric was speaking on behalf of Sportening (Image: Sportening)
“When I first met Luka Modric, I asked about his debut for Real Madrid and playing with such incredible players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso – how would he handle the pressure?
“He said he didn’t focus on pressure, and instead that since he believed in himself, the rest was all about hard work and patience. That mindset helped him win the Ballon d’Or, FIFA Best Player, UEFA Best Player, and World Cup Best Player in 2018 – the only person ever to win all those trophies in the same year. We’re using Luka’s mindset here at Sportening to help us grow and reach new heights as a team, so it's an absolute honour to have Luka as a partner!"
